Jackhammer esophagus: Prevalence and demographic, clinical, and manometric characteristics

Abstract

Introduction and aimsJackhammer esophagus is a recently identified motility disorder. Experience with the novel pathologic condition has been reported in different studies but there is little information on the subject in Latin America. Our case series conducted in Bogota, Colombia, describes the prevalence of jackhammer esophagus and its demographic, clinical, and manometric characteristics. Materials and methodsA retrospective, observational, cross-sectional study included consecutive patients diagnosed with jackhammer esophagus that were referred for high-resolution esophageal manometry. Their clinical and manometric records were reviewed, and the pertinent information for the present study was collected. ResultsWithin the study period, 6445 patients were evaluated through esophageal manometry, 27 of whom were diagnosed with jackhammer esophagus (prevalence of 0.42%). The majority of those patients were women (n = 17, 63%) in the sixth decade of life. The most common symptom was regurgitation (n = 17, 63%), followed by dysphagia (n = 15, 56%). The mean distal contractile integral was 9384 (5,095−18,546) mmHg·s·cm. Dysphagia was more common in patients > 60 years of age (79%, p < 0.01) and regurgitation was more frequent in patients < 60 years of age (92%, p < 0.03). ConclusionsThe present study is the first to characterize the prevalence of jackhammer esophagus and its demographic, clinical, and manometric characteristics in Latin American patients. The prevalence of jackhammer esophagus in our study population was considerably lower than that reported in international case series. Our findings suggest that there are important geographic differences in the prevalence and clinical presentation of jackhammer esophagus, compared with data from other international centers.